​For women working in the private sector, according to UAE Labour Law Article 30, “a working woman is entitled to 45 days maternity leave with full pay including both pre and post natal periods, provided that she has completed not less than one year of continuous service with her employer. A female worker who has not completed the aforesaid period of service shall be entitled to maternity leave with half pay.”

Article 30 further says: “A working woman, on the expiry of the maternity leave, may discontinue work without pay for a maximum period of one hundred consecutive or intermittent days if such absence is due to illness which does not enable her to resume work. Such illness shall be evidenced by a medical certificate issued by a medical authority attested by the competent health authority or endorsed by such authorities to the effect that the illness resulted from pregnancy or delivery.”

Article 31 specifies two nursing breaks of half an hour each, without any reduction of pay. Please note that maternity leave is different for women working in DIFC and in the Dubai government sector.

For women working in DIFC, paid maternity leave is 45 days with full pay and 45 days with half pay, provided she has been:(a) continuously employed with an employer for at least twelve (12) months preceding the eighth week before the expected week of childbirth;(b) notifies her employer in writing that she is pregnant at least eight (8) weeks before the expected week of childbirth;(c) if required by the employer, provides a medical practitioner's certificate stating the expected or actual birth date; and(d) notifies her employer in writing at least twenty-one (21) days before the day the employee proposes to begin her maternity leave.

For women working in Dubai government sector, according to an amended Dubai Government HR Law No 14 of 2010, female employees are eligible for 60 days paid maternity leave and 100 days unpaid leave. A paternity leave of three days for fathers was also detailed in the law. Another recent government law provides for crèche facilities in government departments for young children of female government employees.